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>BTW this is deliberate. It's not like they're idiots. They intentionally decided to make the paywall easy to get around.

Never attribute to cleverness what can be adequately explained by incompetence.

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They've stated publicly they made it easy to get around.

Did they do it on launch, or just after it was widely publicized that bypassing their paywall is laughably easy?

Edit: Afterwards. I'd be more inclined to believe them if they had said it from the start.

"This easy trick, known to every college student, led some to deride the Times as a technological tyro. People in the news industry, however, say the Times deliberately chose to make the paywall “leaky” so as not to alienate casual visitors."

http://paidcontent.org/2013/02/11/new-york-times-plugs-big-l...

"While critics say the gaps highlight flaws in the newspapers' new business model, the Times says the holes are deliberate and meant to encourage openness across the Internet."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/paywall-york-times-readers-...

Also remember reading a couple quotes by NY Times execs/spokespeople that it was intentional.

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